AAP councilor Narendra Kumar withdraws nomination for deputy mayor post, denies party pressure

New Delhi: Rebel AAP councilor Narendra Kumar withdrew his nomination for the post of the MCD deputy mayor on Monday, days after he and another contender, Vijay Kumar, self-nominated for the post, officials said here.

Last Thursday, after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) declared its candidates for the April 26 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) mayoral polls, fielding Mahesh Khichi for the post of mayor and Ravinder Bhardwaj for deputy mayor, its councilors Vijay Kumar and Narendra Kumar filed their nominations, indicating internal conflict in the party.

In the latest turn of events, Narendra Kumar withdrew his nomination without citing any reason.

Denying any pressure from the party to withdraw his nomination, the councilor told PTI, "I have withdrawn my nomination on my own. There was no pressure from the party."

On why he filed the nomination papers earlier against his party's choice and if there was a conflict with the party, Narendra Kumar did not give any clear answer.

Earlier last week, AAP termed the self-nominations by its councilors 'BJP's tactic' to break the party.

Narendra Kumar is the councilor of Ward-119 Manglapuri, while Vijay Kumar represents Ward-192 Trilokpuri.

The mayoral polls will be held on April 26 at the Civic Centre.